New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….
Original story (published on Oct. 4, 2022) follows:
Android’s Smart Lock feature has been a boon for many users ever since its introduction. It helps them keep their devices secured in a very convenient manner.
Smart Lock’s ‘Trusted places’ feature is especially beneficial as it lets users set a specific physical location at which their device will automatically stay unlocked.
However, this feature has reportedly disappeared after the recent update.
‘Trusted places’ missing in Smart Lock on Android devices
Many Android users (1,2,3,4,5,6) have been reporting an issue where the ‘Trusted places’ privacy option is missing in Smart Lock setting.
It seems like Google removed the “Trusted Places” option under the Smart Lock feature? Only On Body Detection and Trusted Devices is there now.
Source
Is anyone else having issues with ‘Trusted Places’ option no longer showing under ‘Smart Lock’? I also noticed my ‘Trusted Devices’ have been removed.
Source
Hello guys, i was wondering if anyone of you encountered the disappearing of trusted places in the smart lock, It seems to me, the option has disappeared from the smart lock, I only have body detection and trusted devices on.
Source
It seems that the issue was initially limited to Google Pixel devices but slowly transcended to non-Pixel devices.
According to reports, the issue started popping up after a Google Play Services update somewhere around mid-September.
The Smart Lock setting now only shows the ‘Trusted devices’ and ‘On-body detection’ features for some. We’ve added a screenshot shared by an affected user below:
However, according to 9to5Google’s report, the recent v22.39.12 update for Google Play Services fixes the issue.
Potential workaround
Although the latest update brings back the feature, there are many Pixel and non-Pixel users who still haven’t received it and continue to face the issue.
Fortunately, we came across a workaround that you can try for a temporary fix. It involves removing the recent update for Google Play Services, as suggested by a Product Expert.
We hope that the developers fix the issue with the ‘Trusted places’ option being missing in Smart Lock as soon as possible.
We’ll keep an eye on further developments and update the article as and when something noteworthy comes up.
Update 1 (October 05, 2022)
05:58 pm (IST): The issue where Trusted places are missing is marked as ‘Assigned’ on the Google Issue Tracker which could mean that devs are still investigating it.
Update 2 (October 06, 2022)
06:30 pm (IST): One of our readers has confirmed that they were able to fix this issue by disabling the Google Play Services and then re-enabling it again.
Thanks for the tip: Carlo Di Martino!
Update 3 (October 10, 2022)
01:00 pm (IST): Users can try clearing the cache for Google Play Store and then restarting the app as it reportedly fixed the issue for one of our readers.
Thanks for the tip: Gene McCallum!
Update 4 (April 10, 2023)
04:54 pm (IST): According to fresh reports (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Smart Lock feature including ‘Trusted place’ is currently not working for some Pixel users after the recent March feature drop update.
Luckily, there are some workarounds that might help you fix this problem temporarily.
Workaround 1:
Found a fix. On the additional settings page before selecting “Smart lock” select “Trusted Agents” and turn off smart lock then turn it back on. I did this then went back to “Smart Lock” and the options appeared again. (Source)
Workaround 2:
It’s a bug with the March Play Services update, not the normal March update. You can get Smart Lock back temporarily by going to the power menu, hitting lockdown, locking your phone, and unlocking with your PIN. It’ll work for a bit. Restarting works as well. (Source)
NOTE: You can check out our Android section for more insights into other issues.
PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.